Early voting before Election Day signed into law by Patrick

Saturday

May 24, 2014 at 6:00 AMMay 24, 2014 at 6:53 AM

By John J. Monahan TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

BOSTON — Gov. Deval L. Patrick signed an early voting bill into law Thursday that will allow voting over 10 days before Election Day starting in 2016, online voter registration and preregistration for 16- and 17-year-olds.

"Whenever we have a law that expands access to the ballot, that makes it easier to register and to vote it makes our democracy better," the governor said while putting his signature on a bill that makes Massachusetts one of 30 states with early voting systems.

The law permits the early opening of a polling site in each community 10 days before Election Day, but leaves it up to cities and towns whether to open the polling site on weekends before election day. The law also will allow 16- and 17-year-olds to register in advance of reaching voter eligible age of 18. Advocates said it will encourage youngsters to be ready to vote when they reach voting age.

The first voter preregistration drive for teens is expected to begin next week at some high schools.

The Legislation has been pushed on Beacon Hill since 2006 when the House Elections Committee put out a bill that called for early voting and also election day voter registration, which was not enacted. The bill given final enactment by the House and Senate this week does not include Election Day voter registration.

State Sen. James B. Eldridge, D-Acton, said while he still supports Election Day registration, the new law is a major step to make it easier for people to vote. "It doesn't have same-day or Election Day registration, so there is more work to be done. But this is a very strong move forward that will really improve the access people have to voting with the busy lives they have," Mr. Eldridge said.

Asked about the impact on cities and towns that share the costs of elections, Mr. Patrick said it is one of their responsibilities and noted that many city and town clerks supported the measure. "Cities and towns like all of us have a responsibility for making voting easier. Frankly that is something everyone is committed to," Mr. Patrick said.

The goal of the new law is to encourage more participation at the ballot box and fully embrace digital technology.

''It's a great bill. It's a big step forward for making it easier to participate in our voting,'' Patrick said.

Voting rights advocates also hailed final approval of the measure, noting that 32 other states already allow early voting.

''For the first time in decades Massachusetts can now call itself a national leader in ensuring free, fair and accessible elections,'' said Pam Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, one of the groups that pushed for the changes.

The new law also creates an online portal to check voter registration status, provides for automatic post-election audits of randomly selected precincts after presidential elections, and requires municipal election officials to attend annual training sessions.

Voting rights activists also said that early voting will let residents better fit their voting into busy personal schedules while online registration will encourage more people to register. Online registration will require the completion of a digital affidavit.

The law also establishes a website to update residents on the status of their registration.

''In many parts of the country, the discussion is how to make it more difficult to vote,'' said state Secretary William F. Galvin. ''That is not the discussion we are having in Massachusetts.''

However, advocates didn't get everything they wanted, including a provision that would have allowed voters to register on Election Day.

The law also creates an Election Laws Task Force. The panel will study the costs of early voting; the hurdles to expanding early voting to additional elections; the possibility of using technology including employing Election Day mobile alerts and ''e-voting"; and more accessible voter registration including Election Day registration.